Sunday, June 29, 2008

Easing W.Va.'s Ache for Care - washingtonpost.com: "More than 300 were in line when Berkeley County's Hedgesville High School opened at 6 a.m. Saturday for the second and final day of the Mission of Mercy. Some had waited since midnight. Others had had teeth pulled or repaired the day before and had come back for more work. More than 1,100 people were treated during the two days, said Terry Dickinson, executive director of the Virginia Dental Association. An army of 700 volunteers from Berkeley and the surrounding counties transformed the high school into a MASH-like dental facility."

The Herald-Mail: "A 2003 survey by the West Virginia Bureau of Health indicated more than 10,000 Medicaid eligible children in the Eastern Panhandle were not receiving adequate dental care." West Virginia is 91% fluoridated.

Friday, June 27, 2008

News & Star: "The Department of Health also highlighted high levels of tooth decay in children living in Copeland and Allerdale,[UK] a finding likely to add bite to the debate over fluoridation of water supplies.

The government has said the practice improves oral health but West Cumbria has been adding fluoride to its tap water for years."

Thursday, June 26, 2008

91% of Ohio is served fluoride chemicals in their tap water to prevent tooth decay, Yet, "More people without dental insurance are showing up in emergency rooms across the state to have infected teeth pulled, bleeding gums treated and other problems that could have been prevented"

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Even though Tennessee is 96% fluoridated: "The Tennessee Department of Health has given more than $1 million in grants in the past year to support adult emergency dental services, said Dr. Veronica Gunn, chief medical officer for the state health department,"

Sunday, June 15, 2008

"Siegal said some dentists are unwilling to treat Medicaid patients because the state reimburses dentists for only about half the cost of treatment. He said about 25 percent of Ohio dentists file Medicaid claims each year."

About 4 million Ohioans lack dental coverage.

Most of those who show up at Ohio State University Medical Center with emergency dental problems could have prevented them with routine care, such as cleanings,

"The tooth is so decayed that it has to be pulled … but generally, we don't pull teeth in the emergency department," he said.

"An extraction is reimbursed at less than $100, but not extracting can cost the state hundreds or thousands of dollars in emergency-room visits or even an admission" to a hospital,

Monday, June 02, 2008

63% of Kitsap County, Washington is fluoriodated: "Mills said she often struggles to secure emergency dental care for low-income residents in Kitsap County.

Though the county has 120 active dentists, 'trying to find a dentist to take one of our patients is almost impossible,' said Mills, who testified for the dental hygienists' bill."

"Earlier this year, the Washington State Dental Association succeeded in watering down a legislative proposal to loosen licensing rules for foreign-trained dentists, something supporters had hoped would plug a dire shortage of dentists.

The dentists also have been waging a lengthy turf battle with dental hygienists over whether hygienists should be allowed to perform routine cleanings without dentist supervision, in order to reach patients who might otherwise forgo dental checkups. And, state records show, most dentists won't accept poor and disabled patients covered by Medicaid."

In fluoridated Paducah, Kentucky, "'I have memories of 10 or 12 times when I panicked when I saw the child,' said Dr. Beverly A. Largent, a dentist specializing in children's teeth for 23 years in the rural Kentucky town of Paducah. Especially in poor urban and rural areas nationwide, children often only get dental care when the pain and swelling are too much to bear, she said.

'I have seen children with their eyes swollen shut,' said Largent, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. A week ago she was in the hospital treating a child with multiple cavities when she got an emergency call from a mother whose child's face was swollen and had to be taken to the emergency room."